A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Has anyone seen the new Sterling Flats Boat ad campaign in the Florida Sportsman. Its a flats boat, hauling tail through the skinny water, swamping a gheenoe. Now is that a poorly run ad or what.
That exact scenario happened to my Gheenoe last time I was in 10k Islands. Except it was a Tailfisher that put me 2 ft up on the beach. Had to unload all the camping equipment just to get back in the water.
In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. And we will understand only what we are taught.
I talked to the guy driving that Sterling boat. John Garrison. They went out to shoot the ad with two crabtraps and this guy wandered up cause he thought they may have been stuck. Anyway the gheenoe guy bet them 10 bucks they could drive that boat in 3.5" of water and thats how he got in the ad. They shot the ad in Mosquito Lagoon. He said they didn't scar the bottom or anything, but I told him that I thought the perception of the ad was not good.
Yeah I've seen the post about this on a few other sites and the general concensus is it's a bad idea. Would have been fine to me if they would have just left the guy in the canoe out of the shot. Some folks got all upset over whether or not the guy was tearing up the seagrass, but for all we know after he goes over the bar the depth could have been 2ft. Whould not take much for him to hit the guy if a strong cross wind hit him and pushed him into the guy.
Yeah I saw that in this months subscription and was floored. That is a complete 180 from the ethics of boating that inshore fishermen hear about all the time. It's not a real big deal but I just did not expect to see that!
I advised the guy that he might want to reshoot that photo with the crabpots in the water. I told him that I think their message might get overlooked. We'll see what happens.